Car dealerships on WhatsApp: answer the follow-up questions and keep finance and price with your sales team

Why buyers move to WhatsApp

A listing answers the first question: is this the car I want? WhatsApp answers the next ten. Buyers want photos of the tyres and the service book, a walk-round video, the MOT history and an idea of what their own car is worth. They want to send photos of their part-exchange from the driveway and get an answer in the evening, when they are actually thinking about the purchase.

For a dealer, that makes WhatsApp the place where a lead either stays warm or goes cold. A quick, accurate answer at 8pm keeps the buyer talking to you. An answer the next lunchtime often arrives after they have booked a viewing somewhere else. The agent's job is to give the quick answer and line the buyer up for your sales team, not to sell the car on its own.

The line: facts from the agent, deals from a person

The agent can say what is on the stock list: mileage, year, service history notes, the advertised price, which features the car has and whether it is still for sale. It can book a test drive into the times you list and collect part-exchange details. It does not negotiate, does not value a part-exchange and does not say whether a buyer will be accepted for finance.

Car finance is a regulated product in the UK, and the wording around it matters. Tell the agent to give only the general wording you approve, such as "we offer finance through our panel of lenders, and our sales team can run a quote for you", and to hand every finance question to the person who is authorised to discuss it. The same goes for warranties beyond your written summary, and for anything about a car that has already been sold or delivered.

What customers ask on WhatsApp

• Is the white Polo still available?
• Can you send a video of it starting from cold?
• Has it got full service history? When was the cambelt done?
• What would you give me for my 2017 Golf in part-exchange?
• Is there any movement on the price?
• Do you do finance, and what would the monthly be?
• Can I come for a test drive on Saturday morning?

An example conversation

This illustration shows a buyer who first enquired on a listings site and then moved to WhatsApp. Names, cars and prices are examples.

What the agent answers

• Whether a car is still for sale, once the stock list is kept up to date.
• Mileage, year, specification, service history notes and the advertised price, from your stock list.
• Booking test drives and viewings into the times you set, and asking buyers to bring their licence.
• Collecting part-exchange details: registration, mileage, photos and any known faults.
• Sending the photos and videos your team has already taken, when you store them where the agent can reach them.
• Opening hours, directions, delivery options and what documents to bring on collection day.

What it always hands to you

• Any price negotiation, discount request or "best price" question.
• Part-exchange valuations. The agent collects the details, a person gives the figure.
• Every finance question beyond your approved general wording.
• Deposits, reservations and anything to do with taking money.
• Faults, complaints and anything about a car already sold or delivered.
• Trade buyers, other dealers and anyone asking to buy several cars.

Keep the stock list current, or the agent will sell cars you no longer have

The fastest way to annoy a buyer is to say "yes, it's available" about a car that went yesterday. The agent only knows what is on the stock list you give it. Update the list when a car is reserved or sold, and mark reserved cars as reserved rather than deleting them, so the agent can say "that one is reserved, but we have a similar one" instead of nothing. Spaces does not connect to dealer management systems or listings sites, but your agent can read one through its own tools if you set that up.

The WhatsApp limits that matter here

A reply to someone who wrote in is never held back by the daily limits, so customers get answers from the first day. Only messages that are not replies to someone who wrote in count toward the messages a day, which rise each week of the warm-up.

Set it up in an afternoon

1. Write a showroom note and a stock list: opening hours, test drive times, what buyers should bring, your part-exchange process, approved finance wording, warranty summary, delivery options and what always goes to sales. There is an example below.
2. Connect the dealership's WhatsApp number in Spaces. You scan a QR code with the phone that has the number, the same way you would link WhatsApp on a computer. Your sales team keeps using the phone as normal.
3. Connect your AI agent using the steps on our agents page. Chat apps such as Claude or ChatGPT reply when you ask them in a chat, so for replies as messages arrive use an always-on agent such as Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw or Hermes. Give it the showroom note and stock list. If your stock lives in a dealer system, your agent can read it through its own tools if you set that up. Otherwise, update the list in the note each morning and whenever a car is reserved.
4. Agree who in sales picks up handed-over chats, and how fast. A price or part-exchange question should get a reply the same day.
5. Decide when the agent answers. Many dealers let it reply in the evenings, when buyers do their research, and leave price and finance replies until the morning. Tell it in its notes, or pause sending when you want it quiet.
6. Ask your AI agent to hold replies as drafts for the first week, and nothing goes out until you approve it. Once the answers read the way you would write them, switch drafts off for the everyday questions.
7. After two weeks, read the chats it handed over and add anything it could have answered, such as a common specification question, to the note.

A sample showroom note

Keep the stock list short and current. Here is the shape of a note, with example details.

DEALER: Northgate Car Sales, Unit 4 Mill Lane. Free parking on site.
HOURS: Mon to Sat 9am to 6pm, Sun 10am to 4pm.

TEST DRIVES: 10am, 11:30am, 2pm, 3:30pm. Bring a full licence.
Offer two times at a time.

STOCK (update daily):
- 2020 Skoda Octavia estate, grey, 41k miles, FSH, £13,495, AVAILABLE
- 2019 VW Polo, white, 33k miles, FSH, £10,995, RESERVED
- 2018 Ford Kuga, blue, 58k miles, £11,750, AVAILABLE

PART-EXCHANGE: ask for registration, mileage, 4 photos and any faults.
Never give a figure. Pass to sales.

FINANCE: say only "We offer finance through our panel of lenders.
Our sales team can run a quote for you." Then hand over.

WARRANTY: every car comes with 3 months' warranty. Details from sales.

NEVER: negotiate, value a part-ex, quote a monthly payment, take a deposit.
ALWAYS TO SALES: price, part-ex, finance, deposits, faults, complaints,
trade buyers.

Part-exchange photos without a valuation

Part-exchange is where buyers most want a quick number and where a wrong number does the most damage. If the agent guesses £6,000 and your buyer later hears £4,500, the deal starts on the wrong foot. So the agent's job is to collect what your buyer needs to price the car properly and to say when the figure will come.

A good checklist for the agent is: registration, current mileage, four corner photos, a photo of the dashboard with the engine running, service history, number of keys, any warning lights and any known damage. When all of that arrives in one go, your buyer can give a figure in a few minutes between customers.

A second example: a finance question

Finance questions come early and often. Names and details are examples.

The agent did not guess a monthly figure and did not say whether Chloe would be accepted. It used the approved wording, handed over and kept the viewing moving.

Common mistakes dealers make

• Letting the stock list go stale, so the agent offers cars that have already gone.
• Letting it quote monthly payments or say "you'll definitely be accepted".
• Letting it give a part-exchange guess from photos.
• Messaging every past enquiry with a "new stock in" offer. Keep messages to buyers who asked to hear about a type of car.
• Forgetting to say the agent is an AI, then having a buyer feel misled when a person takes over.

Who you message

In short

For an independent dealer, an AI agent on WhatsApp answers stock, history and test drive questions in the evenings and between customers, and collects part-exchange details in one tidy message. Price, part-exchange figures, finance and deposits stay with your sales team.

Keep the stock list current, write the finance wording carefully and connect the number. Spaces paces every message and keeps the number inside safe limits, but no tool can promise WhatsApp will never restrict an account, so keep the agent to buyers who message you and buyers who asked to hear from you.

Pricing

Free to start, then $9 per connected account a month

Can the agent negotiate on price?

No, and you should not want it to. It hands every price question to a person in sales, who knows the margin and the buyer. It can keep the conversation moving by offering a viewing while the buyer waits.

Can it value a part-exchange?

It collects the details your buyer needs, such as registration, mileage and photos, and says when a figure will come. The figure itself always comes from a person.

What does it say about finance?

Only the general wording you approve, such as "we offer finance through our panel of lenders". Monthly payments, acceptance and anything specific to the buyer go to the person in your team who is authorised to discuss finance.

Does it connect to my stock system or listings site?

Spaces does not connect to dealer systems or listings sites. If your AI agent can reach your stock system through its own tools, it can read live stock. Otherwise you keep a short stock list in its note and update it daily.

Can it send photos and videos of a car?

Yes, if your team has taken them and stored them where the agent can reach them. It cannot take new photos, so a request for a specific close-up goes to a person on the forecourt.

Can we tell past enquiries about new stock?

You can message buyers who asked to hear when a certain kind of car comes in, one at a time and written for each person. Spaces does not send broadcasts, and it refuses the same text sent cold to many people.

Can it take a deposit to reserve a car?

It should not send bank details or take payments in a chat run by an AI agent. Your sales team handles deposits, which also protects buyers from fake payment requests.

Can sales staff still reply from their own phone?

Yes. The number stays yours and works as normal. When someone takes over a chat, the agent stays out of it until the chat is handed back.